by Laura Dower
Aimee broke into giggles.
“Who?” Madison asked, impatient. “Tell me. TELL ME!”
“Ben Buckley!” Aimee squealed. She covered up her mouth to pretend that no one could hear.
Madison smiled. “I thought you stopped crushing on him!” she said.
Aimee blushed. “Me, too. But then he stopped to say hello to me even though he was with his friends. That means something, right? My brothers even said he seemed extra nice, and they never say stuff like that.”
Boys liked Aimee and Aimee loved boys, especially brainiacs. Ben was the smartest kid in the seventh grade. Up until now, he hadn’t really shown an interest in her.
“So are you two going out this summer or something?” Madison teased.
“No way!” Aimee cut her off. “OH-EM-GEE! We just said hello, Maddie—it was really no biggie,” Aimee cried, blushing some more.
The ice-cream line started moving faster now.
Madison’s dad, who had been chatting with the Gillespie brothers, put his arm around Madison and moved them all forward a few paces.
“So what’s your family doing for Independence Day?” Dad asked Aimee.
Madison elbowed him. “Dad!” she said.
He realized immediately that he’d asked the wrong question.
Aimee replied instantly. “Oh-em-gee! My friend Sasha from dance camp is coming into town,” she explained, talking a mile a minute. “And you know she’s from Russia … well, she lives in New York … but oh, we’re so excited to hang out together and Maddie, I can’t wait for you guys to meet each other! We will have sooo much fun at the carnival and the fireworks and—”
“Aimee,” Madison interrupted. “I think I may be going away next week. Change of plans.”
“What?” Aimee asked. “You can’t go somewhere else!”
Madison sighed. “Yeah, it’s a bummer. I’m going to miss the Fourth of July parade and carnival.”
Aimee frowned. “I can’t believe it!” she cried. “That is totally unfair. Mr. Finn, why can’t she stay here?”
Dad made a helpless face as if he didn’t know how to answer anything that twelve-year-old girls asked him tonight.
By now the ice-cream line had moved inside the store, but Madison didn’t feel much like a frozen treat anymore. She just felt frozen.
“Hey, move it, weasel!” Aimee’s brother Dean said, gently shoving Madison up to the counter. He and Billy laughed. Aimee punched them both on behalf of her BFF.
Normally Madison would have laughed too, and shoved back. But tonight, she wanted to run away. Not even Aimee could make her feel better.
Dad got the message loud and clear.
He ordered two supersize chocolate cows—to go.
Later, after dropping off Madison at home, Dad stood on the porch talking to Mom for almost half an hour.
Wasn’t there a way to let Madison stay home for the Fourth of July?
Madison eavesdropped on them both through the living-room window, but she didn’t hear anything encouraging. Neither parent could afford to change his or her work plans. Everyone else in town was busy with their own houseguests.
So it was decided once and for all.
The Far Hills Fourth of July would have to do without Madison Francesca Finn and Phineas the dog. Phin could go to Gramma’s with Madison, which was some consolation. But the extravaganza part of everything was kaput.
Slurping on the last slurp of her chocolate cow, Madison poked her head out onto the porch to say good night to Mom and Dad. As she climbed the stairs up to her room, Phin followed, nuzzling her legs.
Madison went right over to her laptop. Was anyone on TweenBlurt.com? She’d told Aimee that she’d miss the Fourth of July, and now Madison had to tell the same icky news to Fiona. As she logged online, her buddy list popped up. Both friends were there, so Madison messaged them with the name of a private chat room. They had things to discuss.
“Meet me in BFFLAND and hurry,” Madison said, waiting impatiently for them to show up.
Fiona got there first.
Madison sighed. She could feel her BFFs slipping away—even if it was only for a week. Not only would she miss meeting Sasha, but now she’d miss Debbie, too.
Madison paused before sending her reply. She had almost forgotten about Lake Dora. A group of friends were meeting there for swimming the next day, Friday afternoon. Everyone who was anyone would be there—including Hart.
Madison grinned as she reread the chat lines. Hart would be there. She’d confirmed it. And Fiona was probably grinning, too, since it had been revealed that Walter “Egg” Diaz would also be there. Fiona had been crushing on Egg since she first met him.
Egg had been one of Madison’s best guy friends since they were little kids. It was hard to imagine him dating anyone.
After a few more minutes chatting about who else would be seen at the lake and what else people would be wearing to the lake, Madison signed off with a “c u tomorrow” and a *poof*. She was feeling sleepy now and needed to finish up her earlier e-mail to Bigwheels before going to bed for the night. She still owed Bigwheels a reply to her Oregon e-mail.
From: MadFinn
To: Bigwheels
Subject: Re: I LOVE SUMMER!!!
Date: Thurs 26 June 9:12 PM
Ur trip sounds awesome.
Turns out I will be traveling a little, too. I just found out today that I have 2 go to my grandmother’s house for July 4. Sounds good? Nope. Now I won’t be home for fireworks or Hart or anything. And you said the Fourth would be my big chance to see if he liked me or not!!!
I’m going to the lake tomorrow with a group of friends, but I don’t think Hart will even notice me there. It’s not romantic like the Fourth of July, with carnival rides to go on (you know what I mean, like in the movies or something).
Oh, I did get the new bathing suit BTW. It’s navy blue, but I think my legs look jiggly. Do you wear a one piece or a bikini bathing suit? Why does everyone always show off their stomach like that? Aimee wants to get a belly-button pierce. You don’t have one, do u?
I wish I were in a special camper going all the way across the country like you. Then I wouldn’t have to obsess about everything here. What am I going to do at my gramma Helen’s house for a whole WEEK? All she does is cook and play crazy eights. If u have ideas, pleez send them now.
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I got your e-postcard BTW, but I couldn’t open the attachment or the link. Send me another one pronto! I have to find a funny one to send back.
Yours till the swimming pools, MadFinn, aka Maddie
P.S. Can your camper drive to Chicago? How cool would that be? THEN the Fourth of July would rock. CUL8R.
As Madison hit SEND, a loud swoosh roared through her bedroom. But it had nothing to do with her laptop. All at once, a gust of cool air streamed through the air-conditioning vent directly over her desk.
Phinnie even woke up; it was that loud.
Madison smiled when she felt the air—and wondered if this was a good omen for tomorrow. Now that her room was cooling off, could she cool down, too—and have fun at Lake Dora? Or maybe it even meant something cool would happen with Hart?
She stood under the vent and let the chilly air blow all over before pulling on her pj’s and crawling on top of the covers.
Phin crawled on top, too.
He was asleep in less than a minute.
Chapter 3
MADISON STARED BACK AT her reflection in the mirror.
She couldn’t decide if she wanted to wear the blue or the white T-shirt over her new bathing suit. Finally she decided on blue instead of white (since white was too see-through). She braided her hair and pulled it back with a carved tortoiseshell clip that Mom had bought for her. Last, she slid on her flowered thongs. Her toenails were painted Seashell Pink, and although they were a little chipped around the edges, they still looked pretty.
“Someone’s here for you!” Mom called from the front door. Madison grabbed her straw bag and bolted down the stairs. Aimee was waiting there, arms outstretched.
“You look so cute!” she said when she saw Madison. They left Mom and hopped down the porch steps and into Aimee’s brother’s car.
“Hey! Don’t slam the door!” Dean said as Madison crawled into the backseat. “I just got the paint retouched on that side.”
Dean was way into cars, especially this one. He’d rebuilt the engine just last summer. No one was allowed near Dean’s car unless he said so.
“And watch the backseat, too,” he warned Madison. “I don’t want to get sand in the car.”
“Just chill out. We haven’t even gotten to the beach. Where’s the sand coming from?” Aimee yelled at her brother. “Look what I brought,” she said, turning around toward the backseat. Aimee produced two giant lemons and smiled, fluffing up her own blond ’do. “For the sun. So I can get blonder hair.”
“We have to go pick up Fiona now, right?” Dean groaned. Although Dean was pretty good about giving Aimee and her friends rides in the summertime, he loved to complain.
“Great bikini top,” Madison commented on Aimee’s suit. “Are those little flowers on it?”
Aimee snapped her top. “Yes! Aren’t they pretty? Let me see your new bathing suit, too, Maddie,” she said.
Madison lifted her T-shirt to show off the daisy on the center of her suit.
“You have flowers, too!” Aimee squealed, loudly enough to make Dean shoot her a dirty look.
“Could you not scream like that, please?” Dean asked. He pulled up fast in front of Fiona’s house. The brakes screeched.
Fiona barreled out of her front door toward Dean’s car and got into the back next to Madison.
“Hi-ya, everyone!” Fiona said. As luck would have it (and since great friends think alike), Fiona’s new swimsuit also had little flowers on it.
“We all match!” Aimee said, beaming. Madison grinned, too.
“Egg’s mom just picked up Chet,” Fiona said. “Drew and Hart were in the backseat.”
Madison wondered if maybe she should have worn the white T-shirt. Did it look better? Would Hart like it better?
“I am soooo psyched to get on the beach!” Aimee said.
Dean drove onward to Lake Dora. The road to the lake was winding and rocky, and with each bump, Dean touched his dashboard, as if something bad might happen to his precious car.
Aimee got a bad case of the giggles from all the bumpity-bump, but Madison made sure her seat belt was fastened tightly—just in case. Fiona gasped out loud every time the car bounced up and down.
Bumps or no bumps, it was a relief to be out of the house, Madison thought as they drove along. She rolled down the window and inhaled gulps of lakeside air. Some of the trees along this winding road had sprouted white buds among their deep green leaves, and violets bloomed up and down the pavement. She wished she could jump out and pick her own bouquet.
“Does anyone know if Ben Buckley is going to be there?” Aimee asked sheepishly from the front seat. She had her mind on one boy.
Fiona cocked her head to one side and cracked, “Who wants to know?”
Aimee blushed. “Um … me?”
No one really knew who would be showing up at the lake, but both Madison and Fiona hoped Ben would make it. Aimee hadn’t had a crush like this in a long time. It was all she could think—and talk—about.
“Here we are!” Dean announced, pulling into a parking lot area.
Up ahead, groups of different kids were gathered by the Lake Dora boathouse. Some were choosing life vests and grabbing canoes. Others were standing around staring at one another. Madison recognized a friend from school, Lindsay Frost, standing next to a giant kayak. Egg and Drew were standing close by alongside Egg’s mom, Señora Diaz, Spanish teacher at Far Hills Junior High.
Dean pulled his car into an empty spot and then ordered Aimee, Madison, and Fiona “O-U-T!” But he also promised he’d come back to pick everyone up at three o’clock. After a short chorus of good-byes, Dean whirred away, stepping on the gas and disappearing back the way they’d driven in.
“This is so weird,” Fiona said. “When I lived in California, hanging out at the beach wasn’t like this. We didn’t stand around. We played games and talked and …”
“That’s what we do, too!” Aimee squealed, slipping her arm through Fiona’s arm.
Madison pointed across the beach. “There’s Dan Ginsburg,” she said. He was a friend from school and from the animal clinic where Madison volunteered.
“Hey, I don’t see evil Poison Ivy anywhere,” Aimee said as she surveyed the beach, too. “That’s a good thing, right?”
Ivy was a seventh-grade rival who had a nasty habit of showing up unannounced at group events. Poison Ivy was always accompanied by her duo of drones, Rose Thorn and Phony Joanie. Madison and her crew had dreamed up some awful nicknames for their enemies over the years.
Gradually more and more and MORE cars appeared. Not everyone was dropping off junior high school kids, of course. There were families with toddlers, grandparents with beach chairs and umbrellas, and other people milling about. Madison counted more than twenty different sets of friends and families.
“Hey, you guys,” Egg called out, and walked over toward the girls.
His mother waved, too, but then headed in the opposite direction back toward the family car. Like Dean, she was just dropping off. Most parents and older siblings were doing that, leaving the younger kids to play and swim together. There was freedom at the lake when moms and dads weren’t there. Lifeguards kept order, but they didn’t hover like parents.
Madison welcomed the cool lake air after the week of heat in Far Hills—especially after dealing with the broken air-conditioning unit at home. She poked at her bathing-suited tummy, wondering whether she should get wet or not. Meanwhile boys barreled into the water, screaming, even though no one was supposed to scream. Girls pulled off shorts and T-shirts to reveal a rainbow of different-colored bathing suits.
Lake Dora was set up with a series of three long, interconnected docks for swimming and diving. There was an area reserved for weaker swimmers and toddlers, an area for swimmers who liked doing laps, and a general swim area with a diving platform.
Most of the seventh graders were headed for the free swim area.
Madison stood off to the side, still unsure about whether she felt
like getting into the water. She watched as Aimee and Fiona made their way to the docks, yelling for her to follow.
“Nah,” Madison yelled back. “I’m just going to hang out here for a little while first.”
Lindsay Frost came over, still wearing her T-shirt, too. Madison smiled.
“I hate getting sunburned,” Lindsay said, plopping onto a towel and pulling her T-shirt way down over her knees.
Madison sat down beside her. “Me, too,” she said, glad that someone else in the group was as self-conscious as she was.
They watched as the kids in the water dove off docks and splashed around, laughing. It did look like fun. Lindsay wasn’t budging, but Madison eventually stood up and wandered over to the water’s edge.
“COME IN!” Aimee screamed from a dock before leaping into the air and crashing into the water.
Madison saw Chet run up behind his twin sister, Fiona, like he was about to push her in the water, but a lifeguard blew a whistle.
“No running!” the guard called out. “And no pushing, or I’ll have to ask you to leave the beach.”
Dripping wet, Aimee rushed up to Madison on the shore and grabbed her arm. “You have to come in,” she pleaded. “Or at least come sit on the dock. It’s so much fun!”
Madison shrugged and waded into the water, still wearing her blue T-shirt. She climbed onto one long dock and followed Aimee over toward the group that was leaping and diving. She kept looking behind her to make sure that Egg and Chet wouldn’t push her into the water unexpectedly.
“Hooray!” Fiona squealed. “You’re here! Watch this!” She did a perfect swan dive into Lake Dora.
Egg, standing on another dock, clapped for Fiona’s dive. No one else seemed to notice except Madison. She was beginning to think that Egg really did like Fiona back.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. SPLASH!
Someone else came running down the dock out of nowhere and jumped into the water right by where Madison was sitting.
Her T-shirt was soaked instantly.
“Good one!” Drew yelled from where he was bobbing in the water.
Hart Jones popped his head up out of the lake.
“Hey, Finnster!” Hart said, treading water.
Madison felt her stomach flip-flop and her cheeks turn a little pink, but luckily she could blame that on the sun.